–Juergen Wiegel

Thoughts about the flowers on Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is an ambivalent day within the journey from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. The palms—on the floor below the cross—have become dry and dusty during the days following the glorious entrance into Jerusalem. Maundy Thursday—less celebrated than Easter and Christmas—is in my view one of the central days for the life of the Church. It is the day of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal, but most importantly it is the day of the Last Supper. It is a day we celebrate at least once a month throughout the year in the form of communion, the central part of Christian life. In today’s flower arrangement the cross is covered with vine and grapes and—compared to Palm Sunday—the thorn crown on top of the cross is less hidden thus foreshadowing Good Friday. In the center are the elements of the Last Supper: wine (grapes) and bread, imbedded in the manger, symbolize that even Maundy Thursday started with the birth of Christ. Equally important, Maundy Thursday is the day Jesus washed the

dusty, callous, and perhaps smelling feet of his disciples followed by the commandment to serve each other symbolized by the wooden bowl and towels below the elements of the Last Supper. Yes, the mystery of the Last Supper can only be grasped in the connection with the lowly birth in a manger–-the beginning of the good news—and the fulfilling of the demand from Maundy Thursday to serve each other everyone. In our Western World, we have no need to wash each other's feet, but the demand to serve still stands. In that respect, every day could be Maundy Thursday.